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Do you remember what was happening on campus, in Chicago, around the world, and in arts and culture during your years in the College?
- The growing size of the College between 1988-1992 led to larger class sizes and cramped on-campus housing. Also, more non-professors were teaching College-level courses and there seemed little hope for relief as a faculty hiring freeze was announced in 1991.
- Male-female ratios began to balance out during this period. A new policy announced in 1991 declared that all dorms would be co-ed by the following year.
- The Class of 1992 had an average SAT score of 1291 (625 verbal, 666 math).
- Major topics of discussion on campus included abortion, the increase in crime in Hyde Park (including an abduction and rape and a number of murders), the politics of El Salvador, the fall of Communism, and harassment and violence directed toward gay and lesbian students.
- The Chicago Maroon introduced “The Fourth Estate,” a conservative opinions section, to balance the messages of long-time liberal insert “The Grey City Journal.”
- Students watched while Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal filmed Rob Reiner’s When Harry Met Sally on campus in 1988; DOC Films was the first stop on director Spike Lee’s promotional tour of Do the Right Thing in 1989.
- The School of Public Policy was approved by the Board of Trustees, making it the first new school on campus in 60 years.
- The Medici restaurant reopened in its current location on 57th Street in 1989.
- The College Bowl team won the national championship in 1990.
- In 1990 Professor Merton Miller and MIT physicist Jerome Friedman received Nobel Prizes, bringing to 61 the total number of Nobelists who had taught, studied, or conducted research at Chicago.
- Condom machines arrived in college dormitories during this class’s third year in response to concern about the spread of AIDS.
- In 1991, the University celebrated its centennial with Convocation in Rockefeller Chapel, followed by a campus-wide picnic featuring 10,000 pieces of birthday cake.
- Visiting Professor of Divinity and Romanian activist Ioan Culianu was shot and killed in a bathroom stall on the third floor of Swift Hall in May 1991. There was speculation at the time that the murder was politically motivated, but the killer was never caught.
- During spring 1992, Hanna Gray announced her retirement as President and John Boyer was named Dean of the College.
- Quantrell Award winners in 1992 were Fred Donner, Henry Frisch, Charles Gray, Joseph Jaraback, and Thomas Jones and Richard Saller (joint award).
- Richard M. Daley was elected Mayor in a special election in 1989. Second-year student Jonathan Silverstein was a candidate for the Republican nomination.
- The Chicago Bulls won back-to-back NBA championships in 1991 and 1992. They would win a third in 1993.
- The first live liver transplant occurred at the University of Chicago Hospitals.
- George H. W. Bush defeated Michael Dukakis for the U.S. presidency.
- A U.S. court indicted Panamanian leader General Manuel Noriega on drug-smuggling charges.
- The Berlin Wall was opened by East Germans in November 1989 and torn down by the end of 1990 as Communism collapsed and the Cold War ended. The Soviet Union was dissolved; Germany was reunified.
- In a related event, Yugoslavia dissolved in 1990, setting up an ongoing conflict for the next 10 years.
- Persian Gulf War occurred from 1990-1991 and was called Operation Desert Storm.
- Apartheid was repealed in South Africa in 1991, and Nelson Mandela was released from prison. Apartheid had been a major political issue on campus for over a decade.
- The Chinese Tiananmen Square pro-democracy rallies ended in a hard-line crackdown broadcasted on international television.
- The Exxon Valdez caused the world’s largest oil spill (11 million gallons) when it ran aground in Alaska.
- Riots follow the Rodney King police brutality verdict in Los Angeles.
- Books and Literature: Popular authors included Tom Clancy, John Grisham, Danielle Steele, and Stephen King. Notable books included The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, The Way Things Ought to Be by Rush Limbaugh, Truman by David McCullough, All I Really Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten by Robert Fulghum, and Liar’s Poker: Rising Through the Wreckage on Wall Street by Michael M. Lewis.
- Music: The rap and hip-hop genres of music continued to become more popular and mainstream during the late 1980s. The early 1990s saw the Seattle-based “grunge” movement make a meteoric rise on the backs of bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam, while Chicago-based rock band Smashing Pumpkins arrived on the national scene.
- Television and Radio: Top TV favorites included “60 Minutes,” “Roseanne,” “Murphy Brown,” “Cheers,” and “America’s Funniest Home Videos.”
- Movies: Favorite flicks included “A Few Good Men,” “Driving Miss Daisy,” “Unforgiven,” “Home Alone,” “Ghost,” and “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?”
- Sports: Roller-blading made its debut and the aerobics craze was going full tilt.
Researched by the University of Chicago, Development and Alumni Relations, 2006. The Chicago Maroon was the primary source for the “On Campus” section.